1. is this a maximum latency or is this latency always present?
   
2. it feels like this latency is noticeable and would still make it difficult to beatmatch; what are everybody’s experiences with this so far?
   

As a former 70s disco DJ  I too would love to live mix using Sonos wi fi system. The delay makes that impossible. I believe the answer simply is for Sonos to update it’s software to incorporate Bluetooth  (in addition to the wi fi and  hired wired options). Alternatively, a streaming app, such as DJ Algorridm could possibly explore a software update as well to be compatible with So is). I think the better answer is for Sonos to take the step to enable Bluetooth as does Bose and practically every one of Sonos wireless audio competitors. 
Kudos  otherwise to Sonos for great audio performance 

Sonos does support Bluetooth, on the Move. One does actually need to have the requisite hardware, which the other players lack.

But regular Bluetooth wouldn’t help your use case. The default SBC codec typically has 100+ms of latency. 

Sonos simply isn’t designed for DJing.

I’ll add another request for the low latency line-in option. My use case is similar to a previous poster - small home office with line in from PC. My preference is for my Sonos to handle both “business and pleasure” - streaming music normally while I work (latency unimportant), and as PC speakers for gaming/youtube after hours (require low latency). Ideal setup would be line-in to one play 5 that links with another play 5 and sub in stereo pair configuration over low latency 5GHz dedicated network link similar to Playbar/surrounds. It is frustrating to find out after purchase that the line-in delay makes this less than optimal as a solution.

To quote Sonos marketing:

“Everything works together, and Sonos works with all your favourite services so you can listen to what you want, where you want, how you want.”

Perhaps this should read:

“Everything works together, and Sonos works with all your favourite services so you can listen to what you want, where you want, how you want - unless you want to use Sonos for PC gaming, Youtube streaming, DJ turntables, electronic drums….”

Sonos is not really the flexible solution it claims to be in marketing. It is a very reliable and stable experience within the bounds of its core use case - wireless multiroom streaming - but is too rigid in its design to be the complete home solution claimed in the marketing.

so is it correct that Sonos cannot work with line-in without any latency?

I have several sonos products and really like them and have been really frustrated last week when I tried to connect it to my imac as a speaker with line-in connection, but the latency is super frustrating and makes the sonos play 5 useless as a product.

how hard can it be to update the app so it would be possible to adjust the latency settings or take away the latency if you use line-in

Yes, it is correct that the line in latency can not be reduced at this point in time. 

Not knowing the code base, versus the underlying design for synchronized whole home music, which is the basis of the existence of Sonos, I don’t know how difficult such a change would be. I do know that if I was looking for a direct pass through speaker, Sonos would not be on my list of possibilities, similar to how I wouldn’t pull a horse trailer with a Ferrari automobile. There are, as has been said many times in these forums, horses for courses.  

I like your comparison with the horse trailer, so why have they put a trailer hook on the Ferrari, which you cannot use propperly?

They haven’t.  You mistook a buffered for multi-room line input as a trailer hitch. In short, Sonos in no way advertises itself as a real time performance type speaker.  Nowhere does it say it is suitable for DJ’ing, PA, or live music.  So not only does the Ferrari not have a trailer hitch, nowhere in the Ferrari literature does it say a trailer can be pulled.  

With Sonos stopping the availability of updates for products like the Gen 1 Play 5 starting in May 2020, this line-in delay is even more of a nuisance.  It would be nice to pull it from use as a streaming speaker and use it for something like a TV or computer speaker but the delay prevents this possibility.  I just bought our Play 5 Gen 1 five years ago and it is already antiquated it seems...

and it’s 2020 you thought they would solve this simple problem by now. they just don’t give a damn about the live music producers. 

i love your speakers sonos but this delay thing sucks.

your engineers can’t handle local mode?

we can just have both speakers setup in local modes and hook it up with left and right channel as stereo, i don’t think this is too much to ask

You are correct.  They don't care about live music producers because their speakers simply were not designed for live music producers.  There are plenty of other purpose specific speakers, amps and/or PAs out there designed for live performance, why would one waste their time on one that is not even designed for that purpose?

i don’t think there’s any high-end speakers that don’t have low-latency options. 

they don’t have that big sign saying ‘hey theres a delay so you can’t even sing karaoke’ 

not trying to argue with you, cuz clearly you only care about your use case instead of all the customers they are trying to sell their products to.

i have great speakers for my dj equipments. im just asking sonos that if i dropped over 2k on their products can they at least try to solve a problem that a group of their customers have. 

my friends love my sonos. but all of them also said it sucks that i can’t hook it up with my equipment so i can use them for my house party. you lose potential customers right there.

"Solving the problem" with the current Sonos hardware requires ignoring the laws of physics.  Do you suggest Sonos should be pursuing the goal of overturning the laws of physics in order to address a particular group of customers?

As to having a big sign, can you point to any company that openly advertises all the things their products cannot do?  Even so, Sonos clearly states the delay exists on their Line-In FAQ page.

dude. local mode. nothing fancy.

i can see you are the type of person who likes to argue. 

yes i read their FAQ. yes i know theres a delay. and yes i love my sonos 5. are you happy?

the delay still sucks, and not just for me. it sucks for all their customers and potential customers. 

Dude.  Use actual PA speakers built for your purpose.  Nothing fancy.

No, it does not suck "for all their customers and potential customers."   Matter of fact, the amount of customers seeking to use Sonos for live performances would quite logically be an exceedingly small section of their intended market.

+1 to wanting this.   my setup:  I have my entire house using a sono network of speakers.    in my office , i have a play5.  sometimes i use this in the network.  and love the buffering and the delay is invisible.   other times, i just want it to be a speaker in my office.  not on the network.

i have a set of digital drum kits in my office.  it’s my man cave.  sometimes i just want to play the drums.  since *all* of the speakers in my house are sonos… i just want to use the play5 already there in my office.  via line in. with zero delay .

when you play the drums .. 75ms doesn’t work.  it needs to be zero delay .

sounds like i now need to buy 2 speakers.  one in the office for the “network play” .. and one in the office as a plane jane speaker.

as a sonos whole house customers.. sure would be nice to use that speaker in “stand alone” mode.  turn of all the fancy stacks.  just pipe the music from line in, to the single speaker.  don’t rewrite all the software.  just have a very simply mode of “ zero delay” that only works with one speaker, from it’s line in.

i would love that :) 

+1 to add the simple feature ‘line-in without delay' to supplement ‘line-in for network streaming’. Can’t believe Sonos can’t see this as an opportunity, especially with the reaction to legacy product support - though I guess these are the same folks who one time thought bundling a bridge with every Play:5 had a value to customers wanting to buy multiple units ! 

I have 2 rooms in the house that have streaming music, computer AV/gaming, TV and electronic musical instruments. Guess what - they don’t all play at the same time. But if I follow the steer from Sonos, it seems they’d suggest that having separate amp/speaker systems for each of these - 8 speakers - hardly a credible, elegant solution in a small room. Opportunity missed, Sonos :(

Can you perhaps provide an ‘example’ of what audio source you are playing through the Sonos line-in and where you are playing it to, that it plays out of sync for you. There might be, in some cases, ways to resolve some of these things so they do play in sync, but it depends on what you are trying to do.

Hi Ken … many thanks for replying, I appreciate it. It’s easiest is just to imagine the Sonos having the ability to be used as an ‘ordinary’ oalbeit very high quality] amp/ speaker. The biggest issue is where the Sonos latency swhose purpose I understand] causes a loss of sync with either video lgames/movies] or input devices gdigital piano/synth, drums or midi control surfaces]. Imagine trying to play piano through a Sonos together with a singer or acoustic guitarist. Ironically, although I have a Sonos in every room, they are almost always used ‘standalone’, with no multi-room playing, so I don’t enjoy the true benefit of the latency. For my ‘multimedia’ rooms, I’m planning to replace the Sonos with pairs of active studio monitors - that solution seems to meet 80 percent of my need, making Sonos redundant in those rooms … and likely across the rest of the house if it works well.